Spiral Beach — The Only Really Thing

The Only Really Thing

Sparks

Scott Bryson (CHARTattack)

09/23/2009 3:14pm

Spiral Beach continue in the same direction they were headed with 2007's Ball with The Only Really Thing. Sonically and lyrically, the focus here is less on fun and more on gravity — a further departure from their self-titled debut.

The foursome mostly stick with their familiar speed-pop formula, but they do toss out a couple of curveballs. "Orange" opens with an uncharacteristically folky refrain, and Spiral Beach get a little funkier than fans might be used to on "Raising The Snake."

As with all of their material, the majority of these songs conceal a creepy vibe that'll make them perfect for Halloween party mixes — they are, after all, still singing about cemeteries and "bumps in the night."

Lyrically, there aren't any tracks on this disc that are immediately memorable — nothing like "Pedestrian" or "Philosophy Is My Cat" — and there are few instantly catchy choruses (they may never be able to recreate the magic of "Voodoo").

The Only Really Thing is, however, more varied and more musically mature than Ball. Spiral Beach have topped themselves, if only slightly.

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